Just a bit of Friendly Competition
by GettingTraught
Summary: The League decides that the best way to push their young sidekicks is by stirring up some good ole' fashioned friendly competition! A series of challenges meant to pull out the very best(or was it the worst...) in the teens, and really when getting out of training is at stake the teens are willing to do most anything to win! Rated T for Language, and maybe some romantic stuff later
1. Friendly Competition

**Hey all, another Young Justice story, humorous of course, with interaction from the whole team since the sleepover in 'Childhood Night' went over so well! Of course, as always, I own nothing. Nada, zilch even. Please review and enjoy!**

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><p>Nothing's wrong with a little friendly competition. <em>Absolutely nothing.<em>

In fact the Justice League had decided that friendly competition was exactly what their children needed. The Team spent so much time arguing, fighting, and belittling each other that they hardly worked as a team anymore. One might ask how competition would help such a situation?

Competition would determine drive the teens to work harder, train more, and think outside the box to beat their teammates….so maybe it wouldn't help them get along but it wa sure to help the missions get completed more efficiently and really, in the end, wasn't that what really mattered? Batman and the League decided it sure was.

The League decided on a 'set up' for these competitions that were to come. They would leave a notice on the mission board detailing what needed to occur, and then the children would follow through on the orders. It was simple. So very simple. The adults were so proud to have figured out a method of administering the challenges, now came the hard part. How to judge winners….

"Simple." Stated Batman with a smirk. "We have a scoreboard with all their names on it, we rank them one through eight in order of placement or on how we think they did. The ranking will be posted for them to see and the top four will get some sort of prize while the bottom four will have some punishment or another. Simple."

"…..he's brilliant." the Man of Steel murmured to no one in particular, and the other Leaguers had to agree with him. It was a flawless system to work with. And so It was put into action.

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><p>Robin was the first to stumble upon the instructions for the challenges as he most often was the one to check for missions. "HEY YOU GUYS- GET IN THE DEBRIEFING ROOM THERE IS A NEW ASPECT IN OUR LIVES THAT I AM SURE YOU WILL ALL FIND VERY IMPORTANT." No one came. Now when Robin called, he expected an answer. More specifically he expected eight teens to come rushing to his side to eagerly see what he needed. He was vastly disappointed. "GUUUUUUUUUUUU-UUUUUUUUUUUUUYSSSSSSSSSS…" still no reply. Not even the rush of footsteps. Robin sighed, shaking his head as he scrolled through the stereo system for the cave. "I hate to do this to them…" with the click of a button the cave was flooded with the melodious masterpiece that was 'Shots' sung by the king of song himself. Lil' Jon.<p>

The clambering of several people could be heard along with a series of crashes that resounded through the cave. Robin grinned, hearing the pitter patter of little hero feet.

"It's not Friday why is he playing the drinking song-"

"Don't say that out loud the League doesn't know—"

"Yes because the song that starts with 'Ya'll ready to get fucked up' is gonna signal our tea time? They know-"

"I DON'T HAVE ANY PANTS ON IS THAT ALRIGHT?"

"Do we need seven or eight glasses- oh no I left the stove on!"

"….I have never understood why but this song gives me the urge to gyrate…"

"Save your gyrations for another time Kal we have some bottles to pop!—- Waaaaaaait…..Rob why do you look like you're in mission mode not party mode?" questioned Wally with the lift of his neon flashing sunglasses. "Bro, you can't abuse the signal like that…Conner's not wearing pants for god's sake we can't do a mission when he doesn't have any pants on…..not cool…"

The bird in question simply shrugged, grinning as he turned the volume off, though not turning it off all the way. "I needed you guys in here, as any fluent english speakers will see we've been issued a…a quest of sorts by the League…"

He was right of course. Projected onto the screen that usually housed mission details were the following set of instructions:

'Hey there Team! We, the Illustrious almighty and good Justice League have decided that you guys need a challenge! Several challenges in fact! And wouldn't you believe it we have a solution! Each day this week we're going to give you instructions, you will get this— follow them! We'll be watching on the security cameras to rank you, and your rankings will be revealed the next morning! Since Roy is with you this week- the top four players will be excused from training all next week, the bottom four scorers will be forced to do all the chores around the cave and also will be taunted with their failures as long as they so shall live. Fun right? We thought it'd be a blast. -Lots of Love, The Flash (and the Justice League)'

Wally grinned. "Challenges huh? Let's do this, we all know Robin, Roy, Kal and I will be the top players since we've been in the hero biz the longest, no offense Supes you're only a few months old so you get stuck in the bottom with the girls…."

"Well, you might want to read today's challenge before you get to cocky Wally, you may be at a disadvantage in today's competition. It says, we're to, 'Figure out the most intense push up and do as many as you can.' when competing with someone with super strength, a gymnast and two archers, your upper body strength may not be up to par." spoke Kaldur calmly.

"Ha- hear that kid mouth..'your upper body strength may not be up to par' weren't you just complaining the other day in training that you got tired of regular pushups after like fifty?" Artemis smirked at him, almsot skipping past him down the hall.

"To the training room!" declared Robin and soon two archers, a speedster, a martian, a kryptonian clone man-baby, a magician, a bird, and an atlantean were all out of the room…though Lil' Jon and his shots continued to play.

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><p>"First things first we have to decide upon what 'the most intense' pushup means. I vote one handed claps, maybe legs crossed as well." Spoke Roy as he casually took off his shirt, in preparation for the challenge. No self respecting man would do push ups with a shirt on, that's for sure. Kaldur and Conner followed his lead…besides, Conner never really liked shirts much. They were just…too much.<p>

"No no no no, let's just do regular push ups. See who's really the best, no gimmicks!" chirped Megan while placing a hand on Wally's shoulder. "Then it'll be fair."

"Fair Shmair- we're doing vertical pushups on the bars!" Declaired Robin with a grin. The Archers grinned as well, but the other four looked rather confused as to what he meant. Vertical, push ups, bars, he'd lost them completely. He sighed seeing their confusion. "I'll explain, you go onto on of the bars, get into like, a handstand, then push up except your body is over your hands instead of sideways of…are you smelling what Wally's stepping in?"

"That sounds brutal-" said Zatanna with a small pout. "This is so rigged…."

"Actually if their was rigging it'd be a lot easier and falling wouldn't be an issue-" replied a smug Robin. Oh he was smug, this challenge was his. First place was his. It was all his.

"Whatever, let's just do this before Kal makes me put pants on." muttered Conner as he approached the bars. The rest followed after him, Robin stopped by the chalk box, covering his hands in it, Kaldur, Artemis and Roy followed suit, the others went straight to the bars.

"There are two bars, so we'll do four people on each bar….regular people on one bar, so that's Roy, Artemis, Robin, and for this challenge Wally, the rest of us will be on the other." instructed Kaldur as he grasped the bar and began hoisting himself up.

Megan had smiled quite happily, she would just fly, and grab onto the bar and there would be no problems. She even flew and grabbed the bar from a position already in the air, much to the exasperation of her teammates.

Conner grunted, grabbing the bar with a grunt as he sort of threw his lower body forward flinging himself into the upright position. He gritted his teeth but was settled into the handstand position, bagging on his superhuman strength.

Kaldur of course, the most honorable of men, didn't have a crafty plan and just planned on doing some intense vertical pushups…he pulled himself onto the bar flexing his toes in preparation for the balancing act he was going to have to manage.

Zatanna had gotten her idea from Megan, murmuring a hex that would flip just her gravity for the time being. She didn't know about pushups, but public school had shown she could do half assed pull-ups for days. She grabbed the bar as she almost plummeted towards the ceiling, grinning as she was able to just hang there.

"Bunch of cheaters…" said Roy with a scowl. He pulled himself up, the toned arms and rather..beefy shoulders he'd developed doing archery his entire life serving him well. He shot a glare to the 'super powered' bar. "No sense of pride in natural skill."

Robin grinned. "They're just playing the game, just playing it. Like you, like me, like Wally played your mom last night- we're all just playin'!" He flipped up onto the bars as if he'd spent his life doing it…which in fact- he had!

"My mom's dead." scowled Roy.

"Way to kill the mood…" said Wally with a gulp as he shakily managed to pull himself up onto the bar. He sat there for a second before carefully- oh so carefully pushing himself into the ready position.

Artemis rolled her eyes and hoisted herself up with little complaint from voice or body. She like Roy, had those oh so sexy archer arms, though her decision of loose crop top had left her with a sports bra doing the job of shirt and the shirt doing the job of 'blind Artemis and get tangled in hair' She slipped it off, putting her weight on one arm then the other to drop it to the ground. "Let's do this."

"Alright, to be fair, I say it's whoever can stay up the longest while still doing pushups, so find a steady pace and stick with that. This is duration of time not number of pushups. Three…two…one…GO!" Kaldur started them off, and soon the eight were pushing (or in Zatanna's case pulling) themselves.

Grunts, occasional swears, or a hiss of disapproval would escape the lips of one or all of the members( except Megan who was doing no work, and Robin who lived for this). It was a bit surprising that they'd all managed to last about five minutes. Though at that point the team did what they did best. They started cheating.

Wally was the most desperate, and the first to stoop to that level. He knew he was going down, he knew very well. And so instead of just falling he used what little arm strength he had to throw himself into Megan and Zatanna..causing them to fall up while he hit the ground with a thud.

"NOT FAIR-" shrieked the girls in tandem-

"There are no rules against it, you two are no longer doing pushups, you're out. Fair and square." Wally grinned. "besides you two started off with a Cheap shot by using powers…"

No one could really argue with that, but it did inform the other five on the bars that now it was time to pull out the big guns. How much could you fight while being on your hands on top of a bar while pushing yourself up and down? They were about to discover.

Robin leaned over to the two archers on the bar beside him, speaking in a hushed whisper. "We're taking out the supers first, they're emotionally weak where we are strong. They can't handle this kind of pressure…and if the stress doesn't get to them…your feet could like- 'accidently' sway their direction and knock their balance off but…you didn't hear that from me-!"

"No of course not we heard that from the mystical eagle spirit who guides our life…" choked out Roy through gritted teeth with a roll of his eyes. This statement caused Artemis to choke, almost losing her grip.

"You and your Native American spiritualisms…Christ Roy next thing you know you'll be in here dancing with a medicine man in no more than a deer skin pelt…" she retorted, righting her balance with a relieved sigh.

Robin found this endlessly amusing, and cackled to himself like he was being tickled by mysterious forces- he wasn't…he was simply…really amused.

"Hey Conner, don't you feel your hands starting to give?" Called a smirking Artemis.

He snorted, shooting a glare towards his hands, just in case they felt like betraying him or something. " 'Course not..super Strength, I could do this for days…"

Robin saw where she was going with this. "Yeah we get that big guy, but you skipped number one rule of working on the bars."

Roy sighed, deciding maybe working with the two other regular teens was his best option. "You forgot to chalk." and before another jab at the superboy could be made he tipped a leg forward and his Conner's foot, knocking the teen off balance. Between the oh so helpful tip of the archers foot and the sweat soaked palms Conner had he went sliding off with a string of curses that would make a sailor blush.

"Final four- woo! Sorry Kal, you're next!" Cheered Robin, he lifted one hand, easily doing the pushups with only one arm, and reached into his personal bag of chalk at his hip. He flung the handful into Kaldur's face.

The poor atlantean, the poor trusting- honorable- only one to not even help someone to cheat- atlantean, burst into a laughing fit and was easily pushed over with a swift kick from Artemis to the back of his leg. He fell, coughing and looking rather dejected. "Th-that was.." coughing fit here. "Really" cough "Cheap" cough "Don't you think…" he choked out rather sadly.

"Age before beauty~" cued Artemis with a chilling smirk, she leaned over and bit Roy's wrist, which caused the red headed Archer to shriek and flinch away with a grunt..which gave Robin on his other side the opportunity to push his torso forward.

"Oh no you don't-" Roy grabbed onto Robin's arm and Artemis's hair and dragged them both down with him. He also managed to hit his face directly on the bar and now had a bloody nose.

with the following cries of. "Not cool-" and "You bitch-" the final three were all down and the competition was over. Well, today's round at least.

"I wonder if there'll be points for strategy and tactic or just who lasted longest…." mused Zatanna with a sigh.

"we'll just have to wait and see…" said Kaldur with a nod as he finally finished wiping the last of the chalk out of his face.

Artemis helped Robin to his feet and the two grinned down at the red haired archer. "Try not to get blood on anything Roy-Joy, the eagle spirit might not be to pleased…" spoke the girl with a chuckle.

He glared up at her, rising to his feet with a huff, his hand cupped over his nose to try and staunch the flow. "I will bleed on everything you love."

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><p>Later that evening, all had retired to their own rooms. Settling in for sleep after a tiring day of cheating at doing hardcore pushups. Life was difficult.<p>

Robin had made up his mind, and summoned Artemis and Roy into his room with a text, and soon the three no powered teens were sitting crosslegged on the Boy wonder's bed, though the younger two were still snickering at Roy's nose which was now swollen and deep purple.

"We're going to make an alliance. We're going to help each other and take the top three spots every challenge, then over all no matter what we're all free to do as we please, it's fool proof. Now leave before you open those pretty little mouths of yours and make me regret it!" and as soon as he had called him in, Robin was shoving them off his bed onto the floor. "Leave me. Unless you're looking for someone to show you a good time- but that'd be weird for Arty and illegal I think for Roy so I stand by what I said first…..LEAVE ME-" he ushered the Archers out the door with a shove.

"He's so fucking weird…" muttered Artemis. Roy could only nod and agree for once.

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><p><strong>What's this? Alliances made? Challenges complete? Hard evidence that Wally has noodle arms? It appears that all of occurred. <strong>

**And with that chapter one is done, in chapter two- the rankings will be revealed, the Mentors reactions will be given, and a new challenge issued. **

**Reviews are what give me life, you like it? Great- write a review please! You hate it? ****Great- write a review please! You want to make a suggestion about plot, pairings or anything like that? ****Great- write a review please!...I like reviews...**

**I hope you've enjoyed it, it's been a concept I've been cooking up for a while...**

**~GettingTraught**


	2. Hide and Seek

**CHAPTER TWO. The game shall be announced, or if you can read chapter title's I guess you already know... School's been throwing me a curveball lately so sorry for spotty posting. Anyway, I still own nothing, and I hope you enjoy!**

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><p>"…..I can't believe I'm in last place…." murmured the resident speedster with a dejected huff. "This is so rigged- who even does push ups?!-"<p>

"Stop complaining because you have the upper body strength of a new born." chided Roy with a smirk. "It's not our fault you skip arm day…actually, do you even work out or do you just rely on your superpowers?"

Wally's face was rivaling his hair on levels of 'redness', but he fumed silently, not really wanting to incriminate himself farther by saying something dumb.

The teens stared at the glowing list of placement, some rather satisfied with the results. Others of course as the speedster had demonstrated, were less than pleased with their ranking.

'1st: Robin

2nd: Artemis

3rd: Roy

4th: Kaldur

5th: Conner

6th: Megan

7th: Zatanna

8th: Wally'

Robin snickered at his best friend's misery, shooting highly conspiratorial looks to Roy and Artemis. The blonde just rolled her eyes and Roy gave a slight nod in return. His team was ready, and he would lead them to victory.

Zatanna had witnessed this exchange of glances and found herself growing…suspicious. She grabbed Megan by the arm and pulled her aside, a frown etched into her charming features. "Megs, I think Robin has some sort of agreement with Roy and Artemis, and I don't like it. Now they have brain, brawn and good looks on their side…and Roy, though I'm sure he's good for something…I mean he's got those arms for days…. like- girl just let me be a koala and get all up on those tree trunks, damn-"

"Uh Zatanna, what do you think we should do about this? I doubt we could get them to break the agreement….do you wanna be partners? Magic and my powers give us a pretty good chance, as long as we don't get caught by someone's dirty tricks again…" suggested Megan with a smile.

"You're brilliant- we'll be unstoppable and then no training! It's perfect!~" Zatanna grabbed the martian, squeezing her in a bone crushing hug with a squeal of delight. No training was the best training. And that was a fact.

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><p>The League sat in their 'lounge' watching the security cameras of the cave as a sort of reality tv show.<p>

"They got cut throat really fast…maybe they didn't really need this encouragement, one day in and we have two alliances already…they're smarter than they look." said Black Canary with a hint of admiration in her voice as she leaned against GA. "I'm almost proud…"

Batman nodded in agreement, looking like quite the proud Daddy-Bat at his underhanded ever plotting baby bird. "Yes, they show great potential at…making sure that if they lose they're taking others down with them. It's nearly admirable, but we need another challenge for them. Something to test these new 'teams' they've created…something to push them to their limits. Something that will push them to their emotional limits…test their friendships…"

"I will find them."

the rest of the room stared rather concernedly at Superman and his simple yet confusing statement. Batman was the one to break the silence of concern. "What do you mean you will find them? They aren't lost….they're actually right there, you just…just look at the screen.."

The Man of Steel grinned. "Hide and Seek. I go in, you guys put the cave into lockdown. I go in, no powers, I'll be the seeker. The order they're found in is what they'll be ranked by. It's flawless."

"…..what if they try to kill you Clark. Did you think of that? They're cut throat…if they kill you, you can't find them…."

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><p>"So what happens if we just take him out before he can find anyone…it could be a clean job, just lock him in a room with some kryptonite and go on our merry way."<p>

"Wally did you just suggest we kill Superman?" demanded Megan with a cry of disdain.

"….no, of course not…I would never..that's…that's ridiculous Megalicious, where would you get that Idea…heh, heh…yup.." he popped the 'P' and looked rather dejected…again, it was just…not his day. That was for sure.

"Well, the screen has a timer on it now and it's counting down from five minutes, so I assume that's when he enters the Cave. I suppose that means we hide now.." Said Kaldur with a shrug. And in a flash, the teens were off.

Megan Grabbed Zatanna by the hand, dragging her into the training room. "Do you have a spell to go invisible? If so do that and what you did yesterday and we'll just float up by the ceiling invisible…it's a guaranteed win!"

"Meg I knew there was a reason we teamed up! It's so perfect!" squealed the magician as she once again squeezed the martian in an exuberant hug. She spoke the words and soon she was invisible and floating up to the ceiling, Megan grinned, going invisible and floating up to the top of the room.

_'__Alright, and we can talk through mind link, so really we just get to hang out and wait for everyone else to get caught!' projected the martian. _

_'__Have I ever told you I love you because I think this situation demands it!'_

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><p>Robin had grabbed his archers and tugged them into his room with a cackle. "Into the airvents my lovely archer bitches!~"<p>

Artemis scoffed at him. "There are several things severely wrong with that statement. Like hell I'm going in the airvent, next thing you know you're going to suggest we start a home in there because you drag me there so often."

"As much as I'd love to see you all domestic, now is not the time Arty-Party, we need to go into survival mode and I survive by hiding in airvents, and as the brains of this operation- I decide the plans…and all these factors add up to us hiding in the airvent. Now, why don't you two put those nicely toned arms to use and open up that vent for me so we can get on our merry way to winning?" Robin finished his little speech with a smirk, and nodded towards the vent. "Get to it."

Begrudgingly Artemis moved and began unscrewing the vent cover with only a sigh of disgruntled disapproval.

Roy raised a brow, snickering under his breath. "Have you always listened to the kid who's yet to hit puberty without question, or did he train you to get these good of results-"

"Less mocking, more helping." Growled out the blonde with a snarl. Robin was cackling away, as Roy moved to help Artemis pull the vent cover off.

"You two start moving and gaining ground, I'll take care of covering our tracks…wouldn't wanna stress out your simple little archer minds, now would I?"

Artemis shot Roy a look. "Do I get disqualified if I kill a competitor?"

He shrugged. "That may be a risk I'm willing to take….."

And so the Archers began crawling through the airvents into the beyond, with silence on their lips and possible murder on their minds.

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><p><em>'<em>_GOTTA GO FAST- I have to be faster, if I just keep moving he'll never find me I am the champion, he won't know what hit him- I am the absolute boss- hear that Obama I'm swaggy- swift and taking over the presidency! I can do whatever I want- he can't catch me I am a bird- I'm the freaking bird king of freedom and speed- I'm like a jackrabbit or a cheetah- I finely tuned machine of speed. I am speed. I am Speed- I am Lightening McQueen and I'm gonna win whatever cup thing Disney came up with in that movie- because I'm the fastest boy alive. WAIT! I'll check the countdown- see how much longer I have till he gets here!'_

_'…__..still four minutes to go- ok alright ok alright this is fine I am speed and stuff, I can run for this long. It'll be perfect, he'll never catch me and I'll win and then all the team will fight over who gets to be my love interest…or maybe I'll just get a harem- I am so fast- so freaking fast. Oh look there goes Kaldur- HA SUCK IT KALDUR I'M FAST- he didn't even notice me I bet- I am a breeze of swag that graces only those worthy with my presence. He's not worthy. No one is worthy because I'm too fast. Toooooooo fast. That's me- MR. TOOOOOOO FAST! WAIT-'_

_'__Gotta check the time….Yeah, time check, see if the Supe-Myster's here yet or nah…check the time-'_

_"__ALRIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIGHT, three minutes. This is gonna be a piece of cake, no problem, let's do this. Hmmmmmmmmm…if I were in a mind link other people would hear this….but I'm not, so it's just me. Me, Myself and I chilling it up….. I don't need any of these guys, I'm too good for them. Robin? Ha, he thinks he's so smart, I mean, I'm smart, and fast…he's smart and short, and weirdly manipulative…there's nothing hot about that…..Wait…maybe- no NO Nothing hot….'_

_'__And Conner's just a tool. He doesn't know how to handle his rugged good looks and so he's just like some nice looking doormat, something only superficial girls are into- once they figure out he won't know what to do when they start crying they'll ditch him for me- Mr. Sensitivity….yeah- that's good…..'_

_'__Zatanna?….probably a lesbian….she's hot though, Mental Note: ha- this is all in my mind everything's a mental note- I mean "MENTAL NOTE: ASK. TO. WATCH. IF. ZEE. DATES. GIRL"….yeah that's good…good thinking Wall-ster, ok, don't think of weird hot lesbian magician sex, get your tongue in your mouth…..'_

_'__WAIT—- check the time, gotta go check the time- timetimetimetimetimetimetimetimetimetimetimetimetimetimetime?Yeah only thirty seconds left this is a piece of cake! …what t a drag…this is….this is troublesome…I'm getting bored…WAIT-'_

_'__Teammates- go back to mocking/making list of teammates you would give the honor of dating…who's next who's next MEGALICIOUS- yeah she's a babe, and she cooks which is great because I eat- I mean, we're practically soulmates….honestly, why do I even have to discuss this…..who next who next uhhh….'_

_'__Kaldur's cool…he's just…he's just Kaldur, like you do you man that's cool…..'_

_'__Roy's just a goddamn smoke show I mean really- look at that boy…really just look at him! Those arms, man make me a koala and I'll just climb him like a tree- except that's super gay so I mean I'll just ask him to work out with Rob and I and then they'll both be shirtless which is cool and NOT GAY because we're working out which is totally manly…'_

_'__I'll invite Artemis too and then it won't be gay because she's a hot girl and oh my god what if she takes her shirt off too holy shit- but she's a bitch- but she looks so good.'_

_'__WAIT- Girls are hot and nice and I wanna get all up no that- but also guys are hot and I kinda wanna be all over that too….wait wait wait wait wait am I straight? No way- am I? No…Yes…maybe….Not at all….'_

The Speedster skidded to a halt, his eyes wide in shock. "Holy shit I'm so fucking bi it's not even funny-"

"Well I'm glad you figured out your sexuality and all…but also, you're the first one to be found and I've only been her two seconds…so…you lose…but hey, I'm sure your teammates will accept the new you!" Superman gave him a thumbs up, patting him on the shoulder.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO-"

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><p>Kaldur blinked as the scream shook the cave. "It appears Wally found Superman…."<p>

Conner, who had 'joined forces' with the Atlantean(Meaning they had walked the same direction and were both too chill to tell the other to leave) stopped. "Don't you mean Superman found Wally?"

"No..No, that is the scream of someone who has allowed themselves to ruin something for themselves… Wally lost this all on his own, no assistance from Superman needed. "

The two nodded, going into one of the bathrooms. Conner glanced around. "The airvents, we get in the airvents we keep moving, he won't find us…"

"That seems wise." Agreed "I do not believe anyone else would think of that either, so we should go…." _If only they'd known._

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><p><strong>Chapter two, of course up next is 'Hide and Seek: Part 2' because I thought you guys deserved to have this at least before I spent another month finishing the chapter...so instead of one super long update you get two medium ones. I don't know if that's better or worse though...ANYWAY- reviews are greatly appreciated and also make me happy- and if you wanna favorite this thing to see what happens next that's a good course of action I'd say. Thanks so much for the support and I hope to update soon!<strong>

**~GettingTraught**


	3. Hide and Seek: Part 2

**Hide and Seek Part 2!**

**Got this done a lot sooner than expected, but I'm still sorry for the wait. I finally figured out where I wanted this story to go as well, so there may be more crack and nonsense, but now it's with some sort of direction! I was inspired. Snow days do that for you. The thought of snow days, trashy pop music, and a nice lemon candle and really get you over any writers block. **

**Anyway, here's Chapter three, I still own nothing and I hope you enjoy it!**

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><p>"How do they not know that the archers and Robin would go into the airvents? Does he not know that Artemis and Robin have an airvent bond? How are they so oblivious- so foolish? Hell even we know the two have <em>history<em> in the airvents- and they're so obviously in cahoots with Roy- how are they just- just so blind to the obvious! It's just distressing and stressful- what if the groups meet and brawl, what of Clark goes into the vents? Chaos I tell you chaos!" Barry was watching the screen of live feed from the cave with passionate commentary streaming as he watched the intense game of hide and seek unfold.

Batman rolled his eyes, speaking to the speedster with a scolding tone. "They can't see what we see, plus, Kaldur and Conner are the least likely to take into account Robin and the archer's….affinity for airvents. You have to realize that while we know what's going on with all of them, they only know what they see within their group."

"But the tensions are just so…so _tense_. It's like our own little reality tv show but with drama and thriller and action aspects, it's fascinating." Barry grinned sheepishly. "Plus the tensions.."

Another eye roll from the bat. "Yes, they're tense. We get it."

"Hey Barry I got the popcorn and Dinah's on the phone with the pizza guy now- oh and Bruce is back from the bathroom which I hadn't planned on, so uh..this just got way more awkward than I'd anticipated…." Oliver gave a forced laugh, moving to 'nonchalantly' place the three bowls of popcorn he was carrying onto the table.

"You two are children.." admonished Batman with a scowl. "Absolute children."

Barry grinned. "Well you see- OH LOOK IS ROBIN FLIRTING WHAT?-" he pointed aggressively at the screen.

"_what-"_

The Speedster chuckled, receiving a high five from Green Arrow as the two settled in to eat popcorn and watch the drama as the Bat fumed at the false alarm.

* * *

><p>"I do not think we are alone…" murmured Kaldur as he stopped Conner from taking a turn in the vent system with an outstretched arm. They paused their movements and stayed quiet. Echoing faintly through the metal tunnel systems, they could clearly hear the sound of voices- a moment later there was a cackle, and two groans.<p>

"Robin, Roy, and Artemis are…traveling together then." said Conner with a sigh. "Of course they would go to the vents- don't you remember when the tornados attacked…Kaldur- they have_ history_…"

The Atlantean shrugged. "It must have slipped my mind. Even with them here, I feel it is best we continue on. With any luck, Superman will find them first and we can slip by unscathed. If he finds an entrance to the vents that is."

"Probably right. Let's get moving, the more space I have between me and where we entered the better." With that Conner took lead, winding his way through the vent systems. "I say we head towards the larger vents, since Robin will probably go for the most confined and small spaces there are, that way we can avoid them…"

Kaldur nodded and the pair walked in silence as the vents got smaller, forcing the two to crouch, before they widened out to a height of nearly eight feed wide. The pair had made it to the center of the vent systems, climbing through the (thankfully) still blades of the large fans that had remained unused since the weather was so mild.

"If we set up camp here, we have multiple escape routes and our chances of success would be very high…." Kaldur dropped to crouching position, leaning against one of the metal walls.

Conner nodded and sat down beside him. "That makes sense."

A moment of silence passed between them.

And another.

And another.

And another.

And another.

And another.

And another.

And another.

And another.

And another.

And another.

And another.

And another.

And another.

And another.

And another.

And another.

And another.

And another.

"It's been nearly 19 minutes of silence…." spoke up Kaldur. "I am surprised we haven't seen any sign of superman, or any sign of the Archers and Robin.

Another moment of silence.

"But why are we competing?"

Kaldur turned to Conner, a perplexed look on his face. "Conner, I do not believe I know what you mean. We are competing because the League asked us to…it's training…"

The Clone shrugged. "But is it worth being set up against our friends. You know Kaldur, I've been watching quite a bit of television…it's shown me things."

"….shown you things? Conner, you watch the channel that shows static-"

"We don't always have to listen to _The Man_." piped up Conner with a resolute scowl set on his face.

"Conner….are you talking about Batman? Because I am fairly sure we have to listen to him…despite what Robin and Wally will tell you….."

"No- no. No. No Kaldur. No. Not Batman. _The Man._ It's like…society putting pressures on us on how to act and how to behave against each other."

"You sounds like Zatanna when she talks about the patriarchy-"

"Well she was right." interrupted the clone. "I asked Artemis about _The Man_, after I saw it on tv, and she told me that there's no way to beat _the man_…but we have to fight _the man_. She said it was a paradox or something…" he grunted. "I think Batman may be in cahoots with the man."

Kaldur gave a nod. "I think you may be right."

The two teens shared a knowing look and a nod.

Kaldur spoke again. "What do you suggest we do then, to go against _the man_? What's our plan, our course of action?"

"Well it's simple really…" began Conner as he rose to his feet. "We undermine their game. Turn ourselves in, lose first…if that's possible with wally competing…then we make signs and start our protest."

"So, now we're looking for Superman?"

"Exactly. We need to get found, and then get some art supplies."

And so the two were off to find the man of steel and begin the task if undermining _the man_, they would be the ones to take down that mysterious force. They would take down _The Man._

* * *

><p>The Man in question, Superman that is, was making his way systematically through the cave, moving swiftly but efficiently, though he was sure to not use X-Ray vision and cheat. He was an honorable player.<p>

He followed a good plan. He started at the Zeta Tube (after finding Wally and dealing with that emotional outburst of course) and then he started to the right, moving his way through each room and following the right most wall out of the room after he'd cleared it of any teens. It was simple but effective..he hoped.

So far he'd found no one after Wally. He was almost impressed he'd been searching for nearly a half hour and there was neither sign nor sound of the other teens. They were good, but he was better.

He was about to enter the room they used for training when he heard the sound of banging against metal, then muffled swearing, and two voices hissing 'shhh' then a few more bangs, then nothing.

"Of course- they're in the airvents…must be Robin, and the archers of course….Now to find a way in…" he began looking for a vent to enter that would be big enough for him to fit into so he could pursue his targets. "Curse my broad shoulders and masculine physique…all of these vents are too small…"

* * *

><p>"Robin I swear to god you'd better find some wider went because I am having one hell of a time in here right now." growled Roy through gritted teeth. He was currently wiggling his way behind Artemis and Robin, his shoulders diagonal in the vent and even then he was barely squeezing through. It was awkward, his hips one way, his shoulders diagonal, trying to army crawl through, he kept hitting his head or snagging his clothes. It was not ideal.<p>

"Stop complaining, if you can't fit, then there's no way Superman can fit, so we're in the clear." chirped Robin from the front of their little train. "Besides these ones are roomy compared to some of the one's I've been in. Man up and thing small thoughts."

"I'm sure this _would_ be a lot better if I hadn't hit puberty yet…that probably helps a lot, having the bone structure of a child I mean." said Roy as he stopped moving forward.

Artemis groaned. "Would you two shut up, Man of Steel with super hearing remember? He might just rip out the vent system ever thought of that? So put a can in it." Robin huffed, but kept moving, but when she glanced over her back at Roy he was just laying there, not moving with a very….peeved…so to say, expression on his face.

Another groan from the blonde. "Come on Roy just keep going, I'm sure he'll find us a bigger vent soon…just..come on…"

"No. I'm going back the way we came, and I'm going to make a left where we stayed straight, which will take me to a vent I can sit up in…or at least lay without having to grease my shoulders to fit. I'm done with this, besides, I can do just as well with or without this shambles of an alliance." retired the elder Archer as he awkwardly started scooting backwards.

"ROY YOU ARE NOT BACKING OUT ON ME NOW- not after all we've been through together- Hey HEY WAIT ARE YOU MOVING? YOU STOP RIGHT THERE!" Robin had maneuvered himself so he was facing Artemis and past her Roy. "Scoot over Arty I'm dragging our brother home-"

"He's not our brother- we aren't related- WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?" Artemis shrieked as Robin began crawling over her to try and get to Roy…it seemed to be working well enough despite her panicking…until he got to where his head was at about her tailbone..then he just, couldn't really move anymore.

Roy had been watching this whole ordeal with a smirk, and was now snickering. "Wow Rob, do you maybe wanna find some bigger vents? You and Artemis seem to be rather…stuck..don't you…"

"I swear to god if you're stuck I'll kill you- Rob? ROB? Answer me you little imp-" Artemis was panicking at this point. If they were stuck, she was in the worst position for it. Dick was laying on top of her, his crotch wedged between the back of her head and the top of the vent, his legs pinning her arms out in front of her- and his head was way too close to her ass for her liking.

"It appears we have a problem…." was all the boy wonder said. Roy was in stitches laughing till he was in tears, though his slide backwards had slowly progressed..

…that was until his shoulders stopped sliding backwards. "Oh. God. No."

"Oh Roy- did you reach the junction between vents? Did I not tell you the reason we don't move backwards is because the area where the vents meet is a seam, with a slight widen from the last ten food section the one we're in now, so going backwards with hour shoulders puffed out to force your movement…it doesn't work."

"…so now we're all stuck?" hissed Artemis with a growl.

"It'd appear so…" sighed Robin…"Well this is definitely not asterious….not at all…"

"I fucking hate you." said Roy with a scowl as he and Robin locked gazes in a battle of glares.

"…so what do we do now, huh?" asked the blonde. "I'd say just cut the vent but even if you two could cut the vent in the space between you we couldn't move to get out…"

"Shhhh- Arty- SHHHH you've given me an idea! SO we're at the area between two junctions of vents right. And the junctions are where vents are attached to the ceiling since if my coordinates are correct we should be in the training room-"

"Get on with it bird boy, I'm in pain here." growled out Roy, emphasizing his word by banging his fist against the bottom of the vent.

"Easy- Easy-" soothed Robin. "Well, if we cut between you and I, this are of the vent will sag down after being cut, and then gravity will pull as out. I'm closer to the center of this piece of vent, so I'll cut it..Handy dandy watch laser comes in handy…"

"You do realize my legs are there right- You are NOT cutting off my legs Rob-" cut in Artemis frantically.

"Don't worry 'Mis, my arms are forward and I have enough mobility to reach around your legs, though when the vents fall apart you may want to prepare for some bruises as they fall and separate…"

"Just get it over with" groaned the Archers together. Any other time they would have had an argument over their voices chiming in unison but now was not the time. Both were uncomfortable and not in the mood.

"Alright- sorry if I burn you 'Mis I don't remember if there's many sparks on this thing…" and so Robin used his tiny watch laser to start cutting the vent around them. It was slow moving and nerve racking, especially for Artemis who couldn't see what was going on around her ankles due to their current position.

* * *

><p>Superman had pinpointed the location of the children in the vents, between the bangs, their loud voices and the now active hum and spark of a laser he was standing below where they would likely fall. Likely.<p>

_Due to the room the unfortunate teens had gotten stuck in the vents of, Zatanna and Megan had perfect seats to watch the show unfold. They had sunk to the highest corner when Superman entered, but were now just sitting watching to see what would happen to their friends. They were also trying to hold in giggles, since they were close enough to the vent that they could hear the quarrels of the 'human team'_

_"__They're so confrontational, it's no wonder their fighting got them into this situation!" said Zatanna through the mind link._

_"__Really they are! And now they're going to be found next, and lose all of it! This is too funny.." the martian and the magician shared a mental laugh. "I only hope they're ok when they fall, this room has pretty high ceilings- maybe we should catch them and out them no that ground so they stay safe-"_

_"__No." interrupted Zatanna harshly. "If we do that Superman will catch onto our gig, they're big boys and girls, they can get out of this themselves…besides they're big boys and girls, Superman wouldn't let them free fall 40 feet…probably.."_

_Megan's conscious and worries appeased, they settled in to watch the show._

Superman had moved directly below the now half cut, smoking vent, and was watching it intently. "looks like they're coming to me instead…" said the man with a smile. "Good I didn't want to get in those vents anyway."

He was about to fly up to the vent to assist them in getting out and keep them from falling when a voice and the sound of footsteps stopped him.

"We are here to surrender-" said Kaldur from the door as he entered the room with Conner. "Please come tag us and then we will be out."

"what?" questioned Superman with a frown. "You give up?"

"It's not right of you to set us up against each other. We're teammates and we're going to fight your game and _the man_. Now come tag us so we can go to the craft store." Conner stepped forward, revealing Wally sitting on the floor behind him, eating a bowl of popcorn as he watched the drama unfold from the entrance way.

"Well, if it's what you want, I can tag you…" Superman walked over, tapping Conner on the shoulder, then Kaldur, as he turned back around the vent split in two.

There was a shriek from who the rest of the team assumed was Artemis as the vent split in two, falling to hang in an awkward limp angle with about seven feet between the two ends that had been cut. They could see Artemis's feet up to about her calfs hanging out as well as Robin's hands, on the other side Roy's hands were visible. The sides had split, but so far gravity hadn't caused any sudden release.

Robin's hands curled around the edge of the now open end of the vent. "Well this worked not quite as well as I expected…we should have been shaken out by now…maybe if I pull I can get out…"

"Robin no if you get out then I'm fucking screw-" Artemis was cut off when the boy wonder managed to yank himself out of the vent, he agilely flipped onto the top of Roy's half of the vent and was no worse for wear.

Artemis on the other hand was not facing the opening and so when he got out she was dragged out with him. With no concept of what was going on around her she was sent tumbling from the vent to the floor with a shriek of terror.

The rest of the team, and even Superman just stood and watched this happen…..one of them probably could have caught her, but this whole situation was just…one you didn't interfere with.

Artemis hit the ground with a grunt of pain and a crack of resistance from her shoulder. "Of course it's over concrete and not the mats…of course…" She sat up clutching her shoulder with a hiss of pain.

From inside his vent Roy was cracking up again. "Wow Artemis, that was a graceful landing there!"

With a grin Robin jumped on the vent, shaking it violently, which was apparently just the hint gravity needed to drag Roy out of the vent and send him tumbling down straight onto Artemis.

"Shit-"

"Oww—"

The archers lay sprawled on the ground, and Robin used their bruised bodies as a cushion for when he gracefully swooped down, landing on top of them before standing and brushing off his pants as if nothing had happened.

"Well Superman, I guess you found us!~" chirped Robin as he walked over to the other members of the team, giving Superman a high five since he knew his jig was up.

It was then they heard the giggling. The giggling that obviously belonged to one Zatanna.

"Zee they can hear you-" came the voice of Megan.

"Well damn…." replied the magician in turn. "Well, they all got tagged first anyway so we win this round no matter what, might as well end it.."

Superman was helping the archers up, tagging them each as he helped them to their feet. Zatanna and Megan appeared visible and then slowly and easily descended to the ground.

"That was fun!" squealed Megan. "Let's do it again!"

Artemis scowled at her. "At least one of the bones in my shoulder's probably fractured, we are never doing that ever again."

"Don't be such a downer Arty, my landing was pretty soft-" said Roy with a grin.

"Your landing was on me asshole."

"I know, you should probably do some more toning if you're that squishy…"

"Well sorry for having internal organs that go squish- I'll get right on fixing that after I get Canary to X- Ray my very likely fractured shoulder that will make my livelihood of archery very difficult to do-" she stormed past the other archer, and past her teammates off to the med-bay.

"I'm sure she's just salty because she didn't win." said Zatanna with a smirk.

"I blame _the man_." said Conner with a shrug.

"Agreed." chorused Kaldur and Wally.

Superman blinked, staring at the teens around him. "You guys are ruthless…and a bit psychotic…wow….and I was expecting a fun game of hide and seek…."

Robin smirked at him. "You were wrong."

* * *

><p><strong>There you go! This is quite possibly one of my favorite chapters I've written for just about anything, I like it...then again I also think I'm funny, I guess you guys'll have to set me straight! and you can do that through reviews! (see that was a quality segway- I'm pretty good at those sometimes you feel me?) anyway, Please please please leave a review (doesn't have to be nice I enjoy snark and advice too! Your opinions and ideas are what I like best though so go for it!)<strong>

**I may or may not have a more serious plot based longer-ish young justice fic in the planning stages.(you know it's serious and all plot based when I actually plan it instead of having a random idea and updating randomly) it'll probably be Roy and Artemis centric, haven't decided if they'll be romantically paired or just platonically yet...anyway, that's in the works maybe..so possibly by summer you might get wind of it.**

**Thanks so much for the support and I hope you enjoyed! Find out what happens next by waiting for the next chapter!**

**Lots of Love and Laughter from me!**

**~Getting Traught**


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